University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Southern Illinois
UNI volleyball captures share of third straight MVC title with sweep at Southern Illinoissweep at Southern Illinois
11/16/2024 8:35:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Panthers shut out Salukis in Carbondale. UNI plays at Drake next Wednesday for an outright championship.
CARBONDALE, Ill. --- UNI volleyball made quick work of the Southern Illinois Salukis on Saturday night, rolling to an impressive 3-0 sweep to capture at least a share of the Missouri Valley Conference's (MVC) regular season title for a third consecutive season.
Northern Iowa's defense held the Salukis to only 12 kills on the night with a -.119 hitting percentage, while the Panther offense clicked with 41 kills on .245 hitting and eight service aces, along with nine total blocks.
The win marks UNI's third straight MVC regular season title and 22nd conference championship in program history. It is also the third time in UNI and league history a team has won three straight regular season crowns, after the Panthers did so from 1998 to 2002 and again from 2009 to 2011. Northern Iowa can clinch the league title outright with a victory next Wednesday in the regular season finale at Drake.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Panthers jumped on SIU early with a quick 10-0 scoring run with Olivia Tjernagel, Kira Fallert and Kacie Rewerts leading the charge with three kills each in the first set. Southern Illinois struggled with 11 attack errors and hit -.321 in the opening frame as Rewerts also posted a pair of solo blocks en route to an impressive 25-10 set win.
In the second stanza, Northern Iowa's service game continued to raise the bar as the Panthers tallied five aces in the another strong set, including a pair of aces from Erin Powers and Fallert. After falling behind 3-2 early, UNI used a 14-3 scoring run to seize control and never looked back with a .161 hitting clip and 11 kills, while the Salukis continued to struggle with only two terminations in the set. Fallert added three additional kills to her match total as UNI rolled to a 25-13 win.
The third frame saw a much closer battle as SIU's offense showed signs of life, battling the Panthers to a 10-10 tie before UNI scored 15 of the final 21 points. Lily Dykstra got in on the offensive action, joining Tjernagel, Fallert and Rewerts with four kills each in the third set, contributing to 18 total Panther terminations on .300 hitting as UNI pulled away for a 25-16 victory to complete the three-set sweep.
Fallert led the match with ten kills, plus nine digs in the Panther victory, as Tjenagel, Dykstra and Rewerts all tallied eight terminations each, with Rewerts setting a new season-high with four solo blocks. Kaitlyn Sellner tied a career-high with three aces, while setting a new career-high with four digs, with Sydney Golden and Reese Booth each notching 15 assists. Powers finished with a match-high 12 digs and a pair of aces.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES
- UNI improves to 69-13 all-time against Southern Illinois and 46-6 against the Salukis under head coach Bobbi Petersen. The Panthers have won the last 17 matches in the series dating back to 2016.
- Northern Iowa has now started 17-0 in MVC play in each of the last three seasons, as well as for the 11th time since 1995 (1995, 1998-00, 2009-11, 2022-24).
- The Panthers have now won 35 consecutive regular season MVC matches dating back to last season's undefeated conference schedule, the fourth-longest league winning streak in team history. UNI has also won 39 in a row overall against MVC opponents in the regular season and postseason.Â
- Kira Fallert jumped to eighth on UNI's all-time kills list with her 1,395th career termination on Saturday, moving ahead of Laura Rowen (2004-07).
- Fallert has also recorded double-digit kill totals in 23 matches this season, including in 15 of her last 17 matches.
- Kacie Rewerts has now recorded at least one block in 107 consecutive matches dating back to her career at Drake (2020-23), a streak that began on Nov. 5, 2021 in a match against Missouri State.
- Grace Mikota's nine digs on Saturday put her career total over 400.
- Saturday's match was the 150th collegiate match of Erin Powers' career. The former UAB transfer has appeared in 62 matches since joining the Panthers last season.
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UP NEXT
The Panthers will close out the regular season next Wednesday, Nov. 20 with an in-state matchup against the Drake Bulldogs in Des Moines. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at the Knapp Center with live coverage available on ESPN+ and the Panthers Sports Radio Network.
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UNI volleyball action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Volleyball), X (@UNIVolleyball) and on Instagram (@univolleyball). The full 2024 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
